HBO's 'The Leftovers' heats up after tepid start

August 4, 2014 11:10 AM

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Few TV shows turn the corner creatively speaking quite as quickly as "The Leftovers," which with its fifth and sixth episodes has significantly raised the bar from where the show began, becoming a far more engrossing experience. Indeed, had the HBO drama started out with similar vigor it would have likely drawn a rave review from this quadrant, instead of the tepid responseit received.

Producers Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta, working from the latter's book, have been frittering around the edges of something interesting in the early episodes, but seriously struggled with conveying why the audience should give a damn about its characters despite the sobering nature of their situat...